Tag: Ed Donatell

Former Vikings defensive coordinator Ed Donatell releases statement thanking team, fans

Nothing but class on the way out from Ed Donatell

On Thursday, Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell released a statement saying they were moving on from Ed Donatell as defensive coordinator. Following the news on Thursday, Donatell released a statement thanking the Vikings and their fans.

“First and foremost, I want to thank my wife, Shari, and our family for all of their love and support.

Special thanks to all of the players and coaches for their efforts in winning 13 games and the NFC North title.

I am thankful for the opportunity that Kevin gave me at the Vikings organization. What a wonderful environment the Wilf family has provided for Kevin, Kwesi, and the entire organization to compete for a championship.

Many thanks to the extraordinary fans. It was special to witness first-hand one of the finest fan bases in the NFL.

All the best to the Vikings as they move forward with all the positive momentum from this season. Best of luck”

The Vikings’ defense ranked 31st in the NFL this season under Donatell, which is why the Vikings chose to move on. Now the Vikings are on the hunt for a new defensive coordinator.

There is a lot of pressure on O’Connell now to ensure he finds a good replacement that provides the team with stability. When Mike Zimmer was the head coach, there was a revolving door with offensive coordinators. O’Connell needs to ensure that doesn’t happen with defensive coordinators.

Zulgad: Pressure is now on Kevin O’Connell to get defensive coordinator hire right

From @jzulgad: After Kevin O’Connell’s first choice for defensive coordinator lasted one season, the pressure is on to get the next hire right

Clear of having to answer questions on the matter at their season-ending press conference and with some urgency to begin a search for a replacement, the Vikings quit delaying the inevitable on Thursday night by announcing the dismissal of defensive coordinator Ed Donatell.

Donatell needed to be replaced.

Whatever coach Kevin O’Connell thought he was getting with the 3-4 scheme employed by Donatell, it didn’t come close to working. The Vikings finished second-to-last in total defense in the NFL and near the bottom in scoring defense for a 13-4 team that had its season come to an end with a disappointing 31-24 loss to the Giants last Sunday in a wild-card game.

Donatell is the convenient fall guy, but that doesn’t mean that O’Connell should escape criticism. O’Connell received plenty of accolades for the job he did in his first season as he helped mold an offense that featured eight fourth-quarter comebacks from quarterback Kirk Cousins and a breakout year from wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

But O’Connell isn’t the Vikings’ offensive coordinator, he is in charge of the entire team, and, as he pointed out frequently, that means responsibility for all failures fall on him. O’Connell’s failure is the opposite of what happened with defensive-minded head coach Mike Zimmer, who took plenty of criticism for not paying more attention to the offense.

O’Connell will get the opportunity for a do-over with limited criticism. But this hire needs to be a home run. The new coordinator must earn the trust he will be given and not just because O’Connell thinks it will be a good system.

There are plenty of changes in personnel coming on defense with some veterans (Eric Kendricks, Jordan Hicks, Patrick Peterson, Harrison Smith?) being shown the door. The unit needs to get faster and younger and while the offense will be the Vikings’ identity, they can’t afford to have the defense that gives up tons of yards and is far too often unreliable.

Donatell being gone is the first step and it will be celebrated by the Vikings’ faithful. But that’s only a start. Confidence in the defense won’t be truly restored until O’Connell proves he can make the right hire.

Judd Zulgad is co-host of the Purple Daily Podcast and Mackey & Judd podcast at www.skornorth.com

Twitter celebrates the Vikings firing Ed Donatell

The fanbase is excited for the change on the coaching staff

The Minnesota Vikings finally made the smart move and fired Ed Donatell on Thursday afternoon.

Donatell’s defense was the same scheme that Vic Fangio made famous, but he was unable to replicate any form of success that Fangio had. The Vikings defense ranked 31st in total defense and 26th in scoring defense while failing to maximize any of their players.

It wasn’t so much the scheme that was at fault but how Donatell chose to implement it considering his personnel wasn’t in a position to thrive in that scheme. Within minutes of the statement, Vikings fans to to Twitter to celebrate the team moving in a different direction.

The Vikings will be looking for a new defensive coordinator and that search begins immediately

10 candidates to replace Ed Donatell as Vikings defensive coordinator

After the Vikings and Ed Donatell parted ways, there are many options Kevin O’Connell can go to fill the position

The season is over and the Minnesota Vikings’ defense is in shambles. A lot of that has to do with defensive coordinator Ed Donatell. On Thursday afternoon, head coach Kevin O’Connell released a statement that the Vikings would be moving in a different direction.

His unit ranked 31st in total defense along with being 26th in scoring. They didn’t do nearly enough to maximize the players on the roster but instead tried to pigeonhole the personnel into spots they weren’t meant for.

With Donatell on his way out, here are 10 candidates to be the next defensive coordinator of the Vikings.

Vikings fire defensive coordinator Ed Donatell

The Vikings will be moving in a different direction at defensive coordinator

After finishing the season as the 31st-ranked defense, head coach Kevin O’Connell decided to make a change. On Thursday afternoon, the Minnesota Vikings sent out a press release from O’Connell where they announced that defensive coordinator Ed Donatell was relieved of his duties.

The news should not come as a shock to anyone. We have discussed on multiple occasions the faults of Donatell and his defense and how changes needed to be made.

While the concept of the Vic Fangio defense is great, Donatell was stubborn to a fault in wanting to call his defense instead of catering to his players. The Vikings will immediately begin a search for a new defensive coordinator who will likely come from the Fangio tree, as it is a defense that the Sean McVay tree of coaches likes a lot.

Zulgad’s four and out: Assessing blame and the fixes for Vikings’ defense

With the Vikings’ defense in shambles, @jzulgad looked into who was to blame and how to fix this paltry unit

Could Ed Donatell return as the Vikings’ defensive coordinator in 2023?

Coach Kevin O’Connell didn’t give Donatell a vote of confidence on Wednesday at his season-of-season press conference, but he also didn’t say that Donatell was one-and-done in Minnesota.

“That is an ongoing process that is continuing as we speak and will continue throughout the rest of this week,” O’Connell said of his coaching staff. “I think it’s important to do, and I think after the success we had this year and coming up short of where we ultimately wanted to get to. I think it’s the right thing to do and I’ll make sure I go through that thorough process in doing so.”

Despite winning their first NFC North title since 2017 with a 13-4 record, the Vikings finished next to last in the NFL in total defense and were near the bottom of the league in scoring defense. Things didn’t improve in the playoffs as Minnesota gave up 431 yards in a 31-24 first-round loss to the New York Giants last Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.

So what were the problems, and more importantly, what are the solutions? Let’s take a look.

8 takeaways from Kevin O’Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s season-ending press conference

The end-of-the-season press conference had a few things worth noting

The end-of-the-season press conference often has some nuggets that are worth talking about.

At 1:00 pm central time, head coach Kevin O’Connell and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah spoke to the media about the over arching view of the 2022 season and the offseason that is now upon them.

A lot of what we hear was “coach speak” but there were still some things to take away from the press conference. Here were the eight main takeaways from Wednesday’s press conference.

Kevin O’Connell dances around questions about Ed Donatell’s future

The Vikings head coach wouldn’t commit to anything regarding defensive coordinator Ed Donatell

The Minnesota Vikings had their season-ending press conference on Wednesday afternoon and the biggest question going into it was whether or not Vikings defensive coordinator Ed Donatell would be returning for the 2023 season.

Head coach Kevin O’Connell danced around the question, saying that they are in an “evaluation period” and didn’t have any decisions made at this point.

It is worth noting that he didn’t say one way or the other whether Donatell would be back and I think it’s important. The only real piece of news that could be gathered from what O’Connell said is that he and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah are having conversations with everyone about the future of this team, what could have been better and how they need to improve.

Buckle up Vikings fans, it could be a little bit before we receive any clarity on defensive coordinator.

Vikings 2023 offseason mailbag: Ed Donatell, Kirk Cousins and more

Our first mailbag of the offseason addresses multiple questions about the future of the Minnesota Vikings

The offseason is a time of hope and belief in the future. Right now, the wounds of the Minnesota Vikings’ loss to the New York Giants are still raw, but we have moved on to looking at the offseason.

There are a lot of questions surrounding this team and the direction they will take going into the future.

In our latest mailbag, I answered eight questions about the Vikings’ offseason from both my perspective and of what I think the Vikings will do.

Vikings defense improved in 2022, yet ranked worse in this category

While the Vikings defense struggled in 2022, they improved in this category while ranking worse overall

A little over a year ago, the Minnesota Vikings fired former head coach Mike Zimmer. Reasons for his departure vary, but ultimately it was a culmination of failing to win, the culture he cultivated and his poor defense. The defense unfortunately didn’t get any better under new head coach Kevin O’Connell.

When O’Connell was hired, he brought in Ed Donatell from the Denver Broncos as his defensive coordinator to help get the most out of the defense. Unfortunately for the Vikings, he was unable to do so. Alec Lewis of the Athletic pulled a statistic on the defensive success rate this season versus the prior season and found that even though the Vikings’ defense was more successful in 2023, they ranked worse overall in the NFL.

In the words of former head coach Denny Green, the Vikings’ defense “are who we thought they were.” It’s a group that has a lot of slow, aging veterans who’ve been mainstays on this defense for multiple seasons. Couple that with changing from a 4-3 to a 3-4 scheme, and it caused a lot of headaches all season.

The Vikings and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah will have their work cut out for them this offseason as they try to patch together a defense while still trying to stay competitive.